Page 1 of 1
dell inspiron 1525 mod for blu-ray drives
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:18 am
by pyrates
Is there a way I can modify the current bios (A16) for my dell inspiron 1525 to allow other optical drives besides the one it came with, to operate at UDMA instead of PIO Mode 4. I just put a blu-ray drive in there and was disappointed to see it would only run at PIO Mode 4. I tested the blu-ray drive and in other notebook's it does run at the full UDMA speed but not in the dell inspiron 1525. But since the dell inspiron 1525 does run at UDMA when the original dvd burner is put in, then I know it's not an issue with the cable.
I've dumped the bios already but when I try to open it in the Phoenix Bios Editor 2.2.0.1, it says "No PCB's Found". Anyone know how to fix this? I'd also be interested in editing other areas of it if anyone knows about that.
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:14 pm
by cp
did you load whatever OS you are using and check? or did you check in the bios? the important information is if the OS (or the chipset drivers) enable UDMA modes for the drive. usually the chipset developer supplies drivers and additional tools (like IDE/SATA info tools) to check and enable performance features.
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:02 am
by pyrates
I checked in the bios. Dell has nothing in there to adjust the hard drive or optical drive properties. Dell does not provide tools to enable or disable UDMA.
I also know the speed it is operating at because windows vista tells me the speed. That's how I was able to do the comparison.
I just know that when I put in the dvd burner in there, it is picked up as UDMA. But when I put in the blu-ray drive, it is picked up as PIO Mode 4. The blu-ray drive is an oem sony optiarc bc-5500a.
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:59 am
by edwin
windows will set back the operating speed of drives when they encounter many reading errors. are you sure that blu-ray is completely healthy?
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:33 am
by pyrates
Yep, tried it on another system and it detected it just fine with the speed being UDMA instead of PIO Mode 4.
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:41 am
by cp
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/st ... E-DMA.mspx
maybe this is still in vista? just follow the instructions and set the driver to 'use DMA if available'
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:42 am
by pyrates
First thing I tried. It never gets out of PIO Mode 4. And yes I rebooted after I clicked on dma then ok.
